Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 08/03/2009

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Attachment B Water use reduction through the use of alternative landscaping and best practices for existing turf grass lawns Prairie Plants and native grasses, the low water use alternative turf. One of the ways to reduce your home or business's water consumption is to have a turf that requires less water than a conventional bluegrass lawn. Native plant communities provide the landowner with just such a solution to the ever water- needy conventional turf grass. Long before this area was settled, these native plants covered our current landscape and survived long and harsh droughts. Re- establishing this type of groundcover offers many benefits, such as no fertilizer or herbicide use, in addition to no mowing and little or no watering. A prairie yard may well work for you if you have at least a quarter acre of land which receives full sunlight for all or most of the day. The soil type should be of high sand content and well drained. You should not plan to have any trees on or near the area designated for prairie plants. If you have such an area, then a prairie may well work for you. Planting a prairie yard is much different than putting in a conventional yard. To achieve a successful prairie planting, you will need to kill all existing vegetation of whatever type. This may take several applications of an herbicide such as Roundup or other similar products. This is best done in thefal!. A final application in the following spring will usually produce the desired result. Planting may then proceed. Best results are obtained by using already started plants and/or grasses. Consulting with a reputable provider of such plants is essential for a successful planting and subsequent growth period. Watering and hand weeding will be required during this period. The best time to plant is in the late spring or early summer. Once established, the prairie will not require artificial watering, but may require some hand weeding. Best results are achieved if the prairie area is burned at least every other year, or every year if possible. Many fine examples of prairie plantings already exist in the city of Ramsey on both public and private land. The long term benefits of this type of groundcover will mainly be seen in vastly reduced watering requirements. In some cases, landowners may not have an ideal piece of land for a prairie installation. Situations, including existing or future trees, and low or undrained areas will prevent a true prairie community from existing. In these cases, the landowner may want to consider a meadow-type of planting. There are many shade tolerant plants that also have lower watering requirements that can be put in place of a bluegrass lawn. Again, it is recommended that the landowner consult with a reputable supplier of alternative landscapes to receive the best advice on how to proceed. The overall results will be a landscape covering that is both attractive and water conserving. For more information on prairie and meadow-type yards, please see attached publications: . "Native Plants: Restoring Habitat in Anoka County", from the Anoka Conservation District. . "Developing a Residential Prairie", from the University of Minnesota Extension Service, Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Series (SULlS). . "Yard and Garden Brief: (Ultra) Low Maintenance Lawns", from the University of Minnesota Extension Service, Department of Horticulture.